Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

Gazza1964

HI,

I am still looking for a laptop and cant make my mind up between these.

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-FUJITSU-AH531-I3-4GB-Laptop/123459

Good specs, 2nd generation I3 but very few reviews and mixed reviews on the previous model.


http://www.ebuyer.com/291787-acer-aspire-5749-laptop-lx-rr702-106

Again good spec, slightly faster processor and bigger hard drive, good reviews but think it may be being replaced by the V3 models which seem to be the lastest version - can be found for the same price as the Fujitsu.


http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-3-3530ea-15-6-laptop-silver-17291830-pdt.html?srcid=369&xtor=AL-11&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~

Better spec still if you are happy with the cashback - i5, 6gb memory, 500gb hard drive - ok reviews, but again most likely clearing stock for the 3rd generation processors.

If this is your price point and you want new then I think you will do well to beat these.

I am not interested in HP or Compaq after reading alot of bad press about them, Medion are cheap but some varied comment about quality, from what I can gather there are good and bad models from all makes and the lower your budget the cheaper the construction and lower quality the screen.

I have not used any of these laptops as I have always stuck with self build desktops but will be taking the plunge over the next fortnight - most likely the Acer unless something pops up in the meantime..

Hope this helps.

sam1974_2

NiftyDigits wrote: »

I beg to differ. The processor on your ACER is relatively crap(for want of a better word).
No better than the processor of a Netbook.

or perhaps

The Toshiba has more than double the processing power, with a CPU Benchmark of 1930.

The fact is that even people with state of the art machines have problems with Browser or Flash crashing when playing that game.

You can spend more if you wish on a machine with a dedicated graphics card. You can even overclock the thing.

ahhh ok, i was thinking that because i paid £400 for mine 3 years ago, that buying something new that is a lot cheaper would only give me a machine equivalent to what i had already - see told you i know very little

A group of us play the game together and it seems that although a fair few of us seem to have the flash issue - its the ones with older machines, whereas the folk that have newer laptops dont seem to suffer so much.


Do you think its not worth investing in something like a i5 processor ? or are they not worth the money really ?

Edited to add: Noticed the laptop you suggested in the link has a AMD processor. Which in your opinion is better - AMD or Intel ?

sam1974_2

Gazza1964 wrote: »

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-3-3530ea-15-6-laptop-silver-17291830-pdt.html?srcid=369&xtor=AL-11&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~

Not sure on your area, but its out of stock everywhere near me and not available for delivery. I was looking at this one earlier

They do have the model up which is £499 (£100 cash back) - i just have no idea if its any good or not, or worth the money

Like I said, am happy to pay more if i get a good machine thats going to last me a couple of years and not be slow - I just wish they had buyers instructions in plain english for the non-techincal

Seriously - i picked our last car because i liked the cup-holder in it :rotfl:

JDPower

sam1974 wrote: »

ahhh ok, i was thinking that because i paid £400 for mine 3 years ago, that buying something new that is a lot cheaper would only give me a machine equivalent to what i had already - see told you i know very little

A group of us play the game together and it seems that although a fair few of us seem to have the flash issue - its the ones with older machines, whereas the folk that have newer laptops dont seem to suffer so much.


Do you think its not worth investing in something like a i5 processor ? or are they not worth the money really ?

An i5 processor is overkill for what your using it for, an i3 (second gen one, ie four digit code beginning with 2, eg i3-2310) would be what I was aiming at if I were you.

As for Flash crashing, computer spec is mostly irrelevant, it's just Flash being s***e - I've just got a new laptop, i7 processor, 8Gb RAM, dedicated graphics and Flash (especially videos) is crashing several times a week at the mo.

NiftyDigits

sam1974 wrote: »

ahhh ok, i was thinking that because i paid £400 for mine 3 years ago, that buying something new that is a lot cheaper would only give me a machine equivalent to what i had already - see told you i know very little

A group of us play the game together and it seems that although a fair few of us seem to have the flash issue - its the ones with older machines, whereas the folk that have newer laptops dont seem to suffer so much.


Do you think its not worth investing in something like a i5 processor ? or are they not worth the money really ?

Edited to add: Noticed the laptop you suggested in the link has a AMD processor. Which in your opinion is better - AMD or Intel ?

Seriously, don't obsess over the details.
Remember that when you buy online, you have seven working days to change your mind and to obtain a full refund.

My mum plays Flash games on the now £229 Toshiba. Only two left now.
There is really no point in paying double for more bells and whistles, if you don't need them.
I've seen so many people here miss the boat because of their constant cogitating.
You don't need an i5 and you probably don't need an i3.

sam1974_2

JDPower wrote: »

An i5 processor is overkill for what your using it for, an i3 (second gen one, ie four digit code beginning with 2, eg i3-2310) would be what I was aiming at if I were you.

As for Flash crashing, computer spec is mostly irrelevant, it's just Flash being s***e - I've just got a new laptop, i7 processor, 8Gb RAM, dedicated graphics and Flash (especially videos) is crashing several times a week at the mo.

Several times a week would be good - my game current takes 20 minutes to load (shockwaves player constantly non responsive) and then i get to play for maybe a few minutes and then the flash crashes and i have to reload again LOL

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Seriously, don't obsess over the details.
Remember that when you buy online, you have seven working days to change your mind and to obtain a full refund.

My mum plays Flash games on the now £229 Toshiba. Only two left now.
There is really no point in paying double for more bells and whistles, if you don't need them.
I've seen so many people here miss the boat because of their constant cogitating.
You don't need an i5 and you probably don't need an i3.

Sorry if it sounds like i am over-thinking it. I just want to make sure i get the right thing. I really dont want to spend £300 say and end up with something that isnt good enough for the sake of saving a few quid because ultimately you then end up wasting the £300 when your looking for a new laptop next year .... if you see where i am coming from

Can you still send a laptop back brought online, if you have actually used it and then decided its not good enough ?

NiftyDigits

sam1974 wrote: »

Several times a week would be good - my game current takes 20 minutes to load (shockwaves player constantly non responsive) and then i get to play for maybe a few minutes and then the flash crashes and i have to reload again LOL



Sorry if it sounds like i am over-thinking it. I just want to make sure i get the right thing. I really dont want to spend £300 say and end up with something that isnt good enough for the sake of saving a few quid because ultimately you then end up wasting the £300 when your looking for a new laptop next year .... if you see where i am coming from

Can you still send a laptop back brought online, if you have actually used it and then decided its not good enough ?

Seems that you couldn't help yourself.

Remember that when you buy online, you have seven working days to change your mind and to obtain a full refund.

That means you can try it and if it's not suitable, return it. Just keep it in the same condition as you found it.

Anyway, you have already missed the boat. On both the DELL and the Toshiba.

bethie

bit of an odd question...

I'll be traveling to the US soon, and I know laptops there can be much cheaper (comparitively) than the UK versions.

Would it be worth getting a US laptop and bringing it back here? Or, would warrenties/wrong keyboard/plug converter cause problems?

If the US laptop is the way to go, what key features should I look for?


Thanks!

gonzo127

personally i wouldnt buy something like a computer from america because of the things you have listed above,

on top of this it might not work out that much cheaper anyway taking into account bagage weight on the plane to get it back with you, the possibility of having to pay inport tax (this is only a possible as i havent looked into it in depth) plus as you pointed out the travel adaptor or a new power adaptor when you get back + if you did need to use the warrenty unless you pay for a international one you would then have to ship it back to america to get fixed, just not worth it in my opinion to save a few quid initially

bethie

Thanks.

That was sort of my feeling too (as I previously had an american laptop).

I wouldn't have thought I would have needed to pay import tax as I'd use it while over there, and for baggage, I'd just have it as carry on?